Okay, I'll say it: I watch a lot of TV. Judge all you want. It's cheap entertainment, and I love nothing more after work than crashing on the couch and watching some brainless tube. I've never been a reader, because it makes me so tired. If I got home from work at 7 and read a book, I'd go to sleep every night at 7:30. Here are my favorite comedies and dramas, and then least favorite shows, because I love ranking things and you love to read my rankings.
Top Comedies
1. Parks & Rec - Ron Swanson catapults this show to a whole different level. Everything he does is hilarious. Like The Office, the main character (Amy Poehler) is the least interesting/funny. By the same creators of The Office, I had high hopes for this show from the very beginning, knowing that there was a large chance it would be better than The Office, since they weren't encumbered with an inherited story.
2. Community - Every week I flip-flop between Community and Parks & Rec, I love them both so much. Community has the most clever writing, on parallel with #3 on this list, but funnier. I also have a crush on Annie.
3. How I Met Yer Ma - Despite its laughtrack, I've really found myself looking forward to this show. It's very well-written and clever. My favorite character is Robin. She's hilarious.
4. The Office - I can't wait until Michael leaves the show. The cringe factor is way too high when the story focuses on him, which it does most of the time. I think the most comedic potential lies in Andy, Dwight, and Darryl, which is why the episode at the Roller Skating Rink was so hilarious.
5. Big Bang Theory - At times predictable, but the dorks just found a place in my heart. It's always entertaining.
6. 30 Rock - Let's just admit that it's gotten pretty stale. Most episodes I chuckle a few times, tops. Rarely a moment where I have to rewind because I'm laughing too hard to hear the next joke.
7. Rules of Engagement - The first season was great, but now it's fairly predictable. However, Putty is worth the price of admission.
8. Modern Family - I find this more entertaining than ha-ha funny. It's a tad overrated, but overall, a good show
9. Cougar Town - I didn't think I'd like this show, but it's got a lot of "Scrubs" in it, with the same creator and all. Like #1 and #4 on the list, the main character isn't what makes the show good, it's the supporting cast.
10. I felt bad leaving "Cougar Town" last on the list, as if I barely like it enough to make the list, so I'm just putting a blank number 10 to represent all of the other shows that are too crappy to DVR. If I DVR a show, it means I like it. How much I like it depends on how fast I choose to watch it after it's been recorded.
Top Dramas
I love serial dramas, you know, the shows that don't end each week with a nice pretty bow on it and nothing changes from week to week. I like stories that require 15 episodes to tell. I like the character development that's required, and the writing that goes along with it. That's why I can't get into shows like "Monk" or "White Collar" or anything on USA, really. Sure, they're entertaining for a few episodes, but then they all kind of blur together after a while.
1. Friday Night Lights - This was a great show. Most fans were sad to see it go, but I thought it was the right time. The best season was season 4, when East Dillon won only one game, but against their cross-town rivals. Season 5, the last one, was pretty good, but I think if they tried to continue the series it would've just gotten stale and repetitive. It enabled the show to have a perfect ending, which it did. I think good shows know when to call it quits. Unfortch, The Simpsons just don't know the meaning of the word.
2. Justified - I've always loved One Man Against Everybody shows. Die Hard, Blade, Payback - those are some of the great OMAE movies. I remember secretly watching Die Hard 2 in the dining room on our 13" TV while my parents read newspapers in the next room, volume set to 1/16 of an inch above mute, my hand holding the power cord in case I heard footsteps, because the power button didn't work. I loved how Bruce Willis saved the airport from the terrorists, then put them on a plane that he blew up as it took off. "Yippee Kaiyay, Mister Falcon" is what the TV-edited version said as the plane blew up. Coolest. Movie. Ever. Especially for an entertainment-starved adolescent. I went downstairs immediately and made up Die Hard scenarios with my Chuck Norris action figure against 50 bad guys. Yes, I was too old for it. So what?
Well, Justified is a great OMAE show. I would even consider putting it above FNL if there was more than one season of it. The first season had an awesome pilot, then the next couple of episodes didn't really follow a serial arc, so I lost a bit of interest. Then the last 6 or so episodes did, and it involved a lot of Timothy Olyphant being awesome and killing bad dudes and being awesome some more, so I was hooked. I hope Season 2 has another serial arc as well-written and intense as the first one.
3. Mad Men - I didn't much care for the last season, but the character development is so well-done that Mad Men just never fails to rope me in. I keep wishing for Don to make good decisions, however, but he never does. I guess that's not "who he is". May we all learn from Don Draper's mistakes. Plus, he's such an awesome businessman, it's fun to watch.
4. Breaking Bad - This show just makes me nervous. I watch each episode scared, not because it's a horror, but because it's so intense. Will Walt get away with it? Will Jesse do what's right? Will they evade the super bad guys of the drug cartel? Nervousness!
5. Lights Out - This is a new show with an intriguing serial arc. It always takes a few shows to build the story in these types of shows, which is why they fail to sell to the masses: America doesn't have the patience to wait for a story to develop. However, I've committed to the show after the 4th episode, which featured the main dude having to beat an MMA fighter to save his brother's life. This isn't a show about boxing, just like FNL isn't a show about football. I don't even like boxing.
6. House - I haven't really been watching this, I only like to see how the characters' stories progress. I can't stand the premise, every episode is exactly the same: Guy has a weird disease. They think it's lupus. Then something crazy happens. So now they think it's hepatitis. Then something TOTALLY crazy happens. Then House figures it out and that's that. It's only entertaining because House is a jerk and the acting is good. Plus, I needed to have something here so that "Lights Out" wasn't last.
Most Hated Shows
1. American Idol - I fail to understand the appeal for more than 1 or 2 seasons. What's the difference between this and karaoke? I've watched it a few times and was bored out of my mind.
2. Glee - I decided to watch a full episode so I could say I hated it with more of a foundation than "I hate it cause it looks stupid." Turns out I didn't need more of a foundation, the show was just as stupid as it looked. And they call it a comedy? Unintentional, maybe. I guess it's just not my thang.
3. Any CSI or CBS crime drama - I watched a few CSI's with Mel at the beginning, then realized they were all the same. I guess I don't understand why people are fascinated with the same exact plot every week: Gruesome murder, find a ridiculously impossible clue, chase a few leads, find the right sicko, then catch him in a dramatic ending. I guess old people like this trash, reminds them of the good ol' days and makes them paranoid.
4. Any competitive cooking show. I didn't mind them at the beginning, but Mel loves them so I just got really sick of them and those stupid British judges. What is the deal with the need to have a British judge? I just hate all the judges. I'd like to see the judges compete for a show or 2 and have the contestants judge them. Like has Simon Cowell ever sang in front of an audience?
5. Any competitive reality show with judges, really. And the more dancing/show tunes/celebrities are involved, the more I hate it. Women try to make the same argument about sports, but, come on, sports are so much less contrived than this garbage. I don't even watch figure skating or gymnastics in the Olympics, because I don't like sports that require judging.
6. Private Practice and "Grey's" - Mel loves these shows, but they are just too ridiculously over the top for me. People getting married/divorced every other episode. Crazy weird hospital drama with more weird medical emergencies in a season than a regular hospital would see in 20 years. Psychos with ridiculous emotional problems and unbelievable back stories. I can stomach these shows for a season or 2, but no more. I force Mel to watch them on her computer, because we have other shows on Thursday nights to record.
So those shows are pretty much how I spend my weeknights. When none of the above shows have new episodes, I watch "House Hunters", "Entourage", or "Curb Your Enthusiasm". And let's not forget the plethora of kids' shows when Hendrik gets his TV time, but that's a whole other post.
